Reports of anti-social behaviour, including intimidation and property damage, have been addressed in an Oxfordshire town.

South Oxfordshire District Council have introduced new measures in Thame after residents raised concerns about anti-social behaviour earlier this year. 

The council claimed it had since received positive reports from residents saying that they feel safer and happier in their local area.

Anti-social behaviour refers to an incident reported to police where no criminal offence has been committed.

Incidents were reported around Pearce Way and Howland Road in the southeast of the town.

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In response, the council's community safety officers carried out an inspection - known as an Environmental Visual Audit - in the affected areas.

Based on the results of the inspection, officers worked with Thames Valley Police, Soha Housing and Thame Town Council to reduce anti-social behaviour.

Broken fencing, which allowed unauthorised access to and from an estate, has been fixed, and work is underway to add new fencing and a gate to reduce access to “high anti-social behaviour areas.”

Plans are in place to regularly cut back overgrown foliage which had created poor visibility in an alleyway.

In May, Soha Housing and police arranged a litter pick with the local community after litter and a build-up of larger rubbish items in communal areas were discovered in the inspection.

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Thame Town Council is working on improving the children’s play area, which community safety officers said needed some refurbishment work to encourage more families to use it.

Cllr David Rouane, leader of the district council, said: “It’s good to see our partnership with Thames Valley Police, Thame Town Council and SOHA Housing making such a positive difference.

“We will now be looking at other areas of the district to see if there’s more we can do through the Environmental Visual Audits process and continue to work with our partners to make changes where needed.”

Cllr Kate Gregory, ward member for Thame, said: “Thame is a great place to live and I was sad to see that an area of the town had been the victim of anti-social behaviour, which has such a detrimental effect on those who live there. 

“We want to do all we can to make sure that residents have pride in where they live and that they feel safe. Making these changes and setting up plans to prevent any future anti-social behaviour is really important.”

The council said: “If the public want to report any incidents of anti-social behaviour they should contact Thames Valley Police on 101 (or 999 in an emergency) and their housing provider if they are a tenant.”